Barbecue — a style of food that’s quintessential to being an American, much like blue jeans and baseball. It’s a food, a craft and some might even call it a way of life.

This cherished example of cultural heritage is found coast to coast from the “barbecue belt” of the South, to lesser-known Memphis joints like Payne’s Bar-B-Que, to hipster smokehouses in Portland. The most amazing part, you’ll never find two pitmasters that cook it exactly alike.

So, with endless options to choose from, how does one even know where to start?

Whether you’re on the hunt for a drool-worthy, chopped pork butt sandwich or a rack of ribs smothered in a tangy sauce, you’ve come to the right place. To help you taste your way through some of the best barbecue restaurants America has to offer, CarRentals put together their guide on making a BBQ road trip across America that will satisfy the taste buds of any carnivore. Taking on all 50 states is an ambitious task, so to simplify things the guide is divided by region. You can drive state to state and everywhere in between on the ultimate quest for barbecue. 

Check out the best BBQ restaurants in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.